Newt Vows More Warfare Against the Media

At last week’s CNN Debate in South Carolina, when John King asked Newt Gingrich about recent allegations from his first wife saying that he wanted an “open marriage”, Gingrich gave a legendary answer blistering the newsman.

The crowd roared for Gingrich.

It wasn’t the first time. Newt has made a habit out of squeezing in a pointed jab at the “mainstream” and “elite” media in each debate, and each time, his applause gets louder. So imagine Gingrich’s frustration when NBC’s Brian Williams requested that the audience refrain from any cheering and clapping. The result? It was one of Newt’s weaker debates.

But today, Gingrich is fighting back. He told Fox and Friends this morning that he wishes he had protested NBC’s rules about applause and that the reason the audience was told to stay quiet is that the “media is terrified that the audience is going to side with the candidates against the media.” Gingrich says putting debate organizers on notice that he won’t participate in any future debates unless the audience is welcomed back into the mix, saying, “Media doesn’t control free speech. View the video below.Watch the latest video at video.foxnews.com

There’s another CNN Debate Thursday night, so we will see if anyone tries to muzzle the audience and how Newt reacts if it happens.

In other Newt News… the visual comparisons of Newt to Schrute (Dwight, from NBC’s “The Office”) have been making the viral rounds. Rainn Wilson, who plays Schrute, acknowledged the similarities via Twitter, according to Chris Moody of Yahoo. Wilson has changed his Twitter avatar to the picture on the right.

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